May Peace Prevail on Earth

Our Peace Pole displays this phrase in English, Spanish, Cherokee, Korean, Hebrew, Arabic, and Swahili. The languages were chosen with care and intent.

The first four languages were chosen to represent our local area; English as we are an English speaking congregation, Spanish to reflect our immediate community, Cherokee to honor our First Nation people, Korean to represent the Korean congregation who worshiped at Holy Covenant. These were dedicated in a ceremony during worship in 2010. A prayer was spoken in each language by persons representing their culture.

The next two languages, Hebrew and Arabic, were chosen to represent the other religions springing from our Abrahamic tradition. This dedication was during worship in 2011. The prayers were spoken by a Muslim and her best friend, a Jew. Peace reached across a huge divide.

Swahili was dedicated last year and the prayer was spoken by a recent refugee from Africa sponsored by Daraja.

This year, we add our final language on this Peace Pole. The language is an ancient language, Aramaic, which was chosen to remember the mutual heritage we, as Christians, share with our Jewish and Muslim brothers and sisters.

We have chosen September for each Peace Pole dedication in honor of the International Day of Peace. Also known as World Peace Day, it is always celebrated on September 21. This day was declared by the United Nations in 1981.

Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships. We can each embrace the personal aspect of peace.

There are tens of thousands of Peace Pole in 180 countries on every continent dedicated as monuments to Peace.